diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b4b768559d..db7041acb5 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -429,6 +429,11 @@
 					"default": false,
 					"description": "%githubPullRequests.ignoreSubmodules.description%"
 				},
+				"githubPullRequests.allowReposOutsideWorkspace": {
+					"type": "boolean",
+					"default": false,
+					"description": "%githubPullRequests.allowReposOutsideWorkspace.description%"
+				},
 				"githubPullRequests.neverIgnoreDefaultBranch": {
 					"type": "boolean",
 					"description": "%githubPullRequests.neverIgnoreDefaultBranch.description%"
diff --git a/package.nls.json b/package.nls.json
index 17aeb3a2b5..ace91ed83e 100644
--- a/package.nls.json
+++ b/package.nls.json
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@
 	"githubPullRequests.ignoredPullRequestBranches.description": "Prevents branches that are associated with a pull request from being automatically detected. This will prevent review mode from being entered on these branches.",
 	"githubPullRequests.ignoredPullRequestBranches.items": "Branch name",
 	"githubPullRequests.ignoreSubmodules.description": "Prevents repositories that are submodules from being managed by the GitHub Pull Requests extension. A window reload is required for changes to this setting to take effect.",
+	"githubPullRequests.allowReposOutsideWorkspace.description": "Allows repositories that are outside of the workspace folders to be managed by the GitHub Pull Requests extension. A window reload is required for changes to this setting to take effect.",
 	"githubPullRequests.neverIgnoreDefaultBranch.description": "Never offer to ignore a pull request associated with the default branch of a repository.",
 	"githubPullRequests.overrideDefaultBranch.description": "The default branch for a repository is set on github.com. With this setting, you can override that default with another branch.",
 	"githubPullRequests.postCreate.description": "The action to take after creating a pull request.",
diff --git a/src/common/settingKeys.ts b/src/common/settingKeys.ts
index 1376c4c7bc..950c1ddb71 100644
--- a/src/common/settingKeys.ts
+++ b/src/common/settingKeys.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ export const ASSIGN_TO = 'assignCreated';
 export const PUSH_BRANCH = 'pushBranch';
 export const IGNORE_PR_BRANCHES = 'ignoredPullRequestBranches';
 export const IGNORE_SUBMODULES = 'ignoreSubmodules';
+export const ALLOW_REPOS_OUTSIDE_WORKSPACE = 'allowReposOutsideWorkspace';
 export const NEVER_IGNORE_DEFAULT_BRANCH = 'neverIgnoreDefaultBranch';
 export const OVERRIDE_DEFAULT_BRANCH = 'overrideDefaultBranch';
 export const PULL_BRANCH = 'pullBranch';
diff --git a/src/extension.ts b/src/extension.ts
index 78f8936cb0..465b27f6fb 100644
--- a/src/extension.ts
+++ b/src/extension.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import { isSubmodule } from './common/gitUtils';
 import Logger from './common/logger';
 import * as PersistentState from './common/persistentState';
 import { parseRepositoryRemotes } from './common/remote';
-import { BRANCH_PUBLISH, EXPERIMENTAL_CHAT, FILE_LIST_LAYOUT, GIT, IGNORE_SUBMODULES, OPEN_DIFF_ON_CLICK, PR_SETTINGS_NAMESPACE, SHOW_INLINE_OPEN_FILE_ACTION } from './common/settingKeys';
+import { ALLOW_REPOS_OUTSIDE_WORKSPACE, BRANCH_PUBLISH, EXPERIMENTAL_CHAT, FILE_LIST_LAYOUT, GIT, IGNORE_SUBMODULES, OPEN_DIFF_ON_CLICK, PR_SETTINGS_NAMESPACE, SHOW_INLINE_OPEN_FILE_ACTION } from './common/settingKeys';
 import { initBasedOnSettingChange } from './common/settingsUtils';
 import { TemporaryState } from './common/temporaryState';
 import { Schemes } from './common/uri';
@@ -228,7 +228,8 @@ async function init(
 		}
 
 		// Check if repo is in one of the workspace folders or vice versa
-		if (workspaceFolders && !workspaceFolders.some(folder => isDescendant(folder.uri.fsPath, repo.rootUri.fsPath) || isDescendant(repo.rootUri.fsPath, folder.uri.fsPath))) {
+		const allowReposOutsideWorkspace = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration(PR_SETTINGS_NAMESPACE).get<boolean>(ALLOW_REPOS_OUTSIDE_WORKSPACE, false);
+		if (!allowReposOutsideWorkspace && workspaceFolders && !workspaceFolders.some(folder => isDescendant(folder.uri.fsPath, repo.rootUri.fsPath) || isDescendant(repo.rootUri.fsPath, folder.uri.fsPath))) {
 			Logger.appendLine(`Repo ${repo.rootUri} is not in a workspace folder, ignoring.`, ACTIVATION);
 			return;
 		}